Hunting for Harry
by loveisforfairytales
Summary: All Harry wants is to find peace, to live a life where he isn't constantly running away from something or another. Maybe the solution is to finally stop running.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or Harry Potter

* * *

**Chapter One**

When a giant power surge occurred in Scotland of all places, SHIELD was the first to arrive.

They had been expecting the worst: another other-worldly being, an experiment gone wrong... _again,_ or maybe the remnants of a fight amongst the super humans of the world. What they did find however, was a scrawny teenager of five foot eight with glasses held together by tape. He sat in the middle of the ruins of an old castle, looking at his surroundings with a wistful expression.

"Sir," Phil Coulson said and stepped forward, "I'm afraid you're trespassing on some ancient ruins. Would you please explain how you got here?" Harry remained silent and continued to stare down what used to be a hallway. "Sir, please answer our questions."

"Well this isn't exactly what I had in mind for when I wanted the 'next great adventure'" Harry said amused to no one in particular. SHIELD agents approached him from all sides, holding their guns up, ready to shoot the unknown figure. The teenager took one look at the guns around him and sighed. He gave Coulson a mournful look.

"There's always someone ready to hunt me down. I came here for peace. Don't come looking for me." Harry said and disappeared with a crack.

That crack was quickly followed by six gunshots into the spot he just vacated and a couple of swear words.

"Did anyone get a picture of his face?" Coulson shouted at his team. When a muffled yes came from a distance Coulson smiled. "Run it through every system we own. Let Fury know another super-human being has been spotted in Scotland with the ability to teleport and possible other abilities as well. He won't be pleased that we lost him."

The agents quickly went to work, comparing his picture to every thing online and within government agencies.

"We've got a hit, Coulson," said Natasha, "MI5 found a Harry James Potter who lives in London and works as doctor. The only thing is that the man is currently 34 years old but his picture as a teenager is a direct match."

"Time travel then?"

"Technology is barely advanced enough now and wouldn't have been advanced enough back in 1997. Plus Dr. Potter shows no sign of super-human ability now or 17 years ago."

"So what then?"

Coulson stared at the picture of the teenager.

"Track him down but don't make contact. He says he wants peace and we'll see if he is true to his word."

* * *

"So, Harry James Potter," said Tony as he flipped through everything SHIELD knew about the guy, which wasn't much, "what makes you so special?"

The perks of providing SHIELD with a large portion of its technology meant that Tony spend very little time hacking and more time getting alerts on the various people SHIELD was trying to find. Usually the people that came up weren't very interesting: terrorist suspects, shady bankers, and people wanting to become agents.

But every once in a while someone would catch Tony's interest, first Banner a while back and now this Harry James Potter guy. Potter wouldn't have been that big of a deal, if it weren't for the fact that there was absolutely nothing known about him.

His file contained nothing but a name, a low-resolution photo, and a few lines detailing suspicions of relation to a counterpart in London.

"Tony!" Bruce yelled from a neighboring room, "we picked up some interesting cosmic rays a couple of minutes ago, you might want to check this out."

Tony jumped up from his chair and pulled up his many holographic screens.

"Low frequency waves only a couple of blocks from here. What do you think, doc?"

"Nothing dangerous, just irregular. There isn't anything that produces those waves around here. It's kind of suspicious. Should we call SHIELD?" Banner asked. Tony just gave him an incredulous look.

"Are you kidding me? We're going to go check this out ourselves. I'm driving."

Bruce gave Tony an apprehensive look.

"I don't think I should be getting into steel metal death traps with you behind the wheel." Bruce said but followed Tony anyways.

"Worst outcome you Hulk it out and get out without a scratch."

"That's not very comforting."

* * *

A couple of decades after the war, people started to realize that Harry wasn't aging. It wasn't a problem at first, but then as everyone started to get on with their lives, Harry couldn't. He would have some good days but mostly bad ones where he couldn't stop thinking about everyone he had lost and trying to think _what if._

Being surrounded by all the memories of his past and seeing his friends slowly move on didn't help. Because Harry could recall every detail of the last battle with perfect clarity; they refused to fade.

So Harry started his search for peace, traveling all over the globe in hopes of finding an answer. And he did in the form of talking to strangers on the streets and the little acts of kindness to those he would never meet again.

He still visited his friends once a year around Christmas and New Years to celebrate life and their survival.

But time passed and his friends got older and older, and Harry attended their funerals one by one until they were all gone. Their children just didn't have a bond with their Uncle Harry that they saw once a year for a few days only.

So Harry decided to leave for good.

Here he sat, in a coffee shop in this new dimension, drinking his tea and talking to yet another troubled soul.

"The thing about technology is that it's always changing. Keeping up with every new thing takes up too much energy. Focus not on how it changed from whatever you know, but how it's the same," Harry said with a smile. "See this cell phone? A phone lets you talk to another person at a distance. The bulky ones back then did and these do too. The keypad is here and don't worry about the games and whatnot until you've got this function down."

Steve looked down at the screen with consternation.

"There aren't any buttons on this thing."

"The buttons are there, they just aren't permanent. Not much is permanent anymore, but if it really bothers you we can find a phone with actual buttons."

"I would like that," Steve said happily, "you've been a big help. I hope you're having a good time vacationing in New York. London, you said you're from? I used to know an English gal." Harry nodded.

"England is nice, but I'm sort of a wandering soul. Perhaps I'll be able to settle down once people stop trying to find me."

"Well I'm sure no one is looking for you here," Steve said reassuringly. At that very moment Tony and Bruce walked in on their lovely chat. Tony saw them and his eyes widened in glee.

"You're that Potter kid! You've got SHIELD in a tizzy trying to find information on you. Fury might just spontaneously combust."

Harry gave Steve a face that looked somewhere between amusement and resignation.

"You were saying?"

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This chapter is edited by my wonderful beta bizmiard. Enjoy! **

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"So you came to the conclusion that my last name is Potter, how?" Harry asked Tony, "I haven't told anyone my name."

"Ever? I doubt you're like a hermit or something given that you just chatted up Cap here."

"You're avoiding my question."

"And you're avoiding the questions of super secret government agencies so we're about even right now." Tony said triumphantly. Harry sighed.

"Well if you won't tell me how you know my name, would you like to introduce yourself? You interrupted our chat quite rudely." Harry said. Apparently this wasn't the right thing to say given that all three men gave Harry incredulous looks. "What?" Harry said defensively.

Steve was the first to respond, composing his expression and taking a long drink of his coffee.

"He's Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist, and never let's us forget it. He's cocky asshole and proud of it, but he occasionally learns how to play well with others long enough to save the world from an alien invasion," Steve said, "It's just surprising that you know don't who he is because his face is plastered over pretty much all media outlets and his name was on a huge tower in the middle of New York."

"Oh," Harry said amused, "a genius, billionaire, playboy, _and _philanthropist. I have to say that I'm quite impressed. I'll look out for your name in the future."

"We'll be looking out for yours too Mr. Potter." Tony replied to Harry and turned to Steve, "and Cap I didn't realize you cared so much. I'm touched really." Suddenly Tony turned back around to Bruce and pulled out a small device from his pocket to hand to Bruce.

"I really hadn't planned on running into you, Mr. Potter, that was really just a coincidence. Unless you happen to be the source of unusual cosmic rays that we found earlier. In that case maybe there is a reason SHIELD is interested in you." Tony said studying a screen he pulled up.

"You've mentioned this SHIELD twice now and I confess that I don't really know what you're talking about." Harry replied.

"Just another super secret spy agency. SHIELD was working with Scotland Yard on a different case when a giant power surge happened in Scotland. Power surges really aren't that unnatural but in a place like Scotland they are," Tony said.

"And you know this how?"

"I basically run SHIELD for them. I know everything."

"Fascinating."

At this point Bruce cut into their conversation with a cry of surprise.

"It says here that you radiate low frequency cosmic rays but practically no heat whatsoever." Bruce said and looked up at Harry, holding out his hand, "I'm Bruce Banner by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." Harry reached out to shake his hand.

"Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you," Harry said.

"Ha!" Tony exclaimed, "So what are you? An experimental clone? There's a Harry James Potter that's living in London and you look exactly like him. Doctors are crazy, don't trust them. The whole healthcare system is made to steal our money."

"I don't know a Harry James Potter living in London currently. We may both be British, but I grew up in Surrey a long time ago," said Harry, ignoring Tony's tangent. Harry then looked at his watched and gave the Avengers a cheerful smile, "well I need to get going if I'm going to make a meeting. It was nice meeting you!"

Harry allowed no time to goodbyes from his new acquaintances, or any time to protest his leaving.

* * *

As Harry walked out he made his way into the nearest alley.

From the roof of the café, Clint Barton saw a figure disappear from sight with a _crack_.

* * *

"So what do we know about him?" Steve asked the other Avengers as they sat together in Stark Tower.

"He appeared in Scotland at exactly 2 in the afternoon 4 days ago. His appearance had generated enough energy to blow out the power in a 50 mile radius," Natasha said matter of factly, "he claims to desire peace, but refused to answer questions or cooperate with government officials."

"Government officials?" Tony snorted, "uh no. More like unofficials who snoop in everyone's business without their permission."

"Like you're one to talk Mr. I Hack into Everyone's Things," Steve shot back and tried to bring the conversation back towards the subject of Harry. "Besides his name, we also know that he doesn't have a permanent home. He's not too good with technology, which is surprising for someone who looks like he's in his teens. He is good at explaining how to use basic technology though."

"He emits cosmic rays at consistent level," Bruce said, "However, around the time that he left the café, I noticed that a significant rise in the amount of rays before they disappeared completely."

"That would be around the time he disappeared into thin air," Clint said.

"He did the same thing in Scotland," Natasha responded, "we're assuming he can teleport given that he managed to get from Scotland to New York without appearing in any airport large or small."

"He could be anywhere by now!" Steve groaned. At that moment Agent Coulson decided to walk in with folders to hand out to each of the Avengers.

"I see that you're debriefing yourselves," said Coulson, "since you've already met the teenager, Fury figured that he'd just give you the assignment to track down Mr. Potter and find out what he wants." Coulson ignored the groan that came from Tony and continued to explain the assignment.

"Cameras caught Potter in Chicago, then in New Mexico, then back across the Atlantic Ocean in Paris, Munich, and finally London."

"All in the span of three days?" Steve asked incredulously, "what in the world could he be doing?"

"We're not sure. I want Agent Romanoff and Dr. Banner to talk to the 30 year old Harry Potter to see if he has any involvement whatsoever. The rest of you are to track down the Potter teenager and see if you can get him to answer any more questions."

"A family vacation," Tony said sarcastically, "fun."

* * *

Harry Potter couldn't say he lived an ordinary life.

His father James Potter had been the part of the lower nobility and left Harry quite a large fortune when he died in a car crash when Harry was one.

His mother Lily Potter nee Evans had been a great mother, but passed away from cancer when Harry was only eleven.

His mother's sister, Petunia Dursley, had taken him in hoping to take a part of his inheritance. However it was quite clear that his aunt had always been jealous of Lily and in turn favored her own son over Harry.

While not abused, Harry had been badly neglected by his aunt and did his best to get into a good boarding school and be far away from his relatives. He managed to do well in school and went on to become an oncologist at a hospital in the heart of London.

Harry loved his job and went about his work with determination. He did lose a few patients once in a while, but overall the ability to save lives gave him a purpose in life.

Going to work on just another Wednesday morning, he didn't expect to get visitors during his lunch break.

A man who introduced himself as a doctor ("but not a medical doctor") and a woman with fiery red hair carrying some sort of official badge had sat down with him as he pulled out his bagged lunch.

"I beg your pardon," Harry said, "What do you want with me again?" The doctor looked sheepish while the red haired woman remained expressionless.

"We'd like to know if you've been dabbling in cloning or something similar to it. Or perhaps you have a relative that looks exactly like you that shares the last name Potter?" Natasha asked. Harry didn't know what to make of the question.

"You mean there's someone going around that looks exactly like me and claiming to be a Potter?"

"That's exactly what we mean," Natasha said and pulled up a picture of the teenaged Potter, causing Dr. Potter to gasp in surprise, "I'm sure you can see the resemblance. Therefore, it would be really nice if you could answer our questions."

"Sure," Harry said, shaken, "I haven't been doing anything related to cloning. Taking care of patients take too much time. I also don't have any relatives that I know of. My father was an only child. My three children take more after my wife than they do me."

Natasha and Bruce shared a look.

"So you don't know this man at all?"

Dr. Potter continued to look at the picture of the boy with a strange expression on his face.

"No, I do not. Though the resemblance is uncanny. I would say this was a picture of me around 17 except for a few things. I definitely wasn't as skinny and this boy has a mark on his forehead. Do you see it?"

"A lightning bolt on his forehead, yes," Bruce said, "I saw it during my brief encounter with him. I noticed it because it was quite unique." Harry nodded.

"I don't have one of those, which tells you that this kid isn't me."

"Well thank you for your time Dr. Potter." Bruce said, "We appreciate your cooperation. You can contact us if you come across anymore information on this subject." Bruce handed Dr. Potter a business card, which he accepted.

"Oh," Natasha said, "Please keep what we've talked about here confidential."

"No problem," replied Dr. Potter, "Glad to be of service. And don't worry; I understand the need for discretion."

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter, once again edited by my wonderful beta bizmiard! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Looking around him and at a map of the city of London, Steve felt a bit overwhelmed.

"So how exactly do we start looking for him?" he asked. Clint just shrugged, but Tony was already walking ahead and calling for a taxi. Staring at the other two members of the Avengers, Tony raised his eyebrows and motioned them to get in.

"Charring Cross Road, chop chop," Tony stated and saw the blank looks on his teammates' faces. "Doesn't anyone read the debriefing files?" he said in exasperation. No one answered that.

Reaching their destination, they headed for the diner the Potter boy was last seen entering. They didn't really expect to find him there, but maybe he had said something about where he was staying or his intentions in London.

The diner, Annie's Diner, was a cozy place to enjoy a lunch with friends. Booths lined the walls and a smiling teenaged girl came over to take their order.

"What would you like to order?" she said pulling out a notepad and a pen.

"Three cups of a coffee please and maybe some fish and chips for each of us," Steve ordered. The girl smiled and then left.

"So we're here," Clint grumbled, "I don't see the kid anywhere. Now what?" Tony gave him a gleeful look.

"Simple. I hack and you two play nice and interrogate the locals about a miscreant teenage boy," Tony said, head already down and working magic on his Stark phone.

With direct access to the security system of the restaurant, Tony started to look through the security footage to learn more about the Potter kid. When the food came, Tony ignored the waitress and Steve's fumbling in favor of a highly interesting video.

The Potter kid looked almost upset when he came in; a strange expression that Tony might have said was nostalgic if he didn't know that the kid had never stepped in the diner before (so why would he be nostalgic?).

When seeing the waitress, _their waitress_, Potter jumped in shock before a big smile appeared on his face. He couldn't see the waitress' face from the angle of the camera, but Potter started engaging her in conversation.

Potter stayed until closing time that day, chatting with the waitress over cups of coffee when Tony guessed her shift was over. Well he knew where to start looking for Potter now.

Looking up, Tony saw that Steve was doing a mediocre job interrogating her.

"So I met this boy a couple of days ago nearby. He was a good kid sitting down and chatting with me. I've been searching for him since he forgot his phone in his hurry to leave. I was hoping to find him here. He told me that he really liked this restaurant and I thought I'd give it a shot." Steve said charmingly.

"Oh yeah?" she said, raising an eyebrow, "what did he look like?"

"Messy black hair. Glasses. Extremely mature for his age." Steve replied. The waitress' eyes lit up. She gave them a wry smile.

"I'm guessing you're part of the super secret spy agency that's following him around?" While Steve started to silently freak out in his seat, Clint just snorted.

"Spies?" he scoffed, "don't be ridiculous. Steve here can barely work a cellphone. I doubt he'd be able to use super secret spy technology."

"Well Mr. Not Spy, here," the waitress pulled out a folded up sheet of paper and handed it to Steve, "Harry left this here with me and told me to give it to anyone who came in here looking for him."

Tony, Steve, and Clint gave each other a look before looking down to read the note.

_To the super secret spy agency that's following me, _

_Well if you've gotten through all this trouble to find me again I doubt you're going to give me any peace until I answer some of your questions. Let's make a deal. We meet at this diner, 7 o'clock three days from the moment you open this note. For every question of mine that you answer, I'll answer one of yours. _

_-Harry James Potter_

* * *

"Thor, you're back," Fury said unenthusiastically, "what brings you to Earth again?"

"Heimdall has spoken of trouble coming to Midgard," Thor said seriously, "I hope to help in the incoming battle." At this statement Fury became more alert.

"Trouble? Like in the form of a man with messy black hair and glasses?"

Thor shook his head. "I do not know of this man you are speaking of. Trouble is coming from outside Midgard. Heimdall suspects the forces working with Loki for the Tessaract."

"I thought the Chitauri died with the nuclear explosion."

"Not the Chitauri. The being who controlled the Chitauri."

"What does it want with Earth?"

"Is it not obvious? Midgard won with the help of Asgard. Now he wants revenge and will try to destroy your planet to get it."

"Tell me everything you know about him."

"His name is Thanos and he's courting death."

* * *

Dr. Harry James Potter was closing up after a long and fulfilling day. As he finished up the last bit of paperwork, he tried not to worry about the teenager who seemed to be waltzing around with his identity. As far as he knew, the kid hadn't taken advantage of it yet.

Turns out it's incredibly difficult to ignore a person when he shows up sitting in the waiting room of the hospital anticipating your arrival.

With piercing green eyes and messy black hair, the teen looked exactly like he did at that age.

"Dr. Potter," the teen said, "it's nice to meet you."

"Harry," Dr. Potter acknowledged, "I'm surprised that you want to meet with me." The teen just shrugged.

"Well I just wanted to come and say that I'm sorry you got involved. It's nothing intentional, you just happened to have the problem of being me. They really shouldn't have worried you about anything. I promise I'm not planning to get into your bank accounts or anything of the sort."

"Reassuring, thank you, " Dr. Potter said. "So would you be willing to explain how you came to be me or I came to be you or what you're doing here at all?" Harry just gave him a sad smile and shrugged his shoulders again.

"What I'm doing here? I just want to find some peace though it seems that I'll never stop running from those who seek to understand how I exist. Why I'm here exactly? I'm not sure either." Dr. Potter couldn't accept that an explanation.

"Surely you remember something. At least you can tell me what you were doing before you came here."

"Honestly Dr. Potter? All I know was that before I showed up in the ruins in Scotland, I died."

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you for being wonderfully patient! As always, thanks to my beta bizmiard!**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

"I'm telling you, it's not a good idea to go in there and ambush the kid. You have teams surrounding the premises and there's no promising that he won't find out and go berserk." Steve said. He and Natasha were glaring at each other, each unwilling to back down.

"He's an unknown entity. We have to take precautions," Natasha said coolly.

"He's an entity that can pop away the minute he feels uncomfortable. We want him to talk to us not disappear again," Steve insisted. The staring contest continued.

"How about this," Bruce said, trying to placate both sides, "Natasha and Clint can act as back up and call in help the minute they feel it's necessary. Harry's met Tony, Steve, and me anyways. He'll feel more comfortable with people he already knows."

"None of you are trained to read people," Natasha argued back, "I need to be there."

"Then Clint will be back up."

"By himself?"

"He's a big boy," Tony cut in, "he'll survive." Clint shot Tony a dirty look.

"Fine then," Natasha said frostily with an emotionless face, "let's go meet him."

Potter walked through the door of the diner at exactly seven o'clock. He appeared unconcerned, dressed casually, and walked with an easy stride.

He didn't even spare a glance at the Avengers who were already sitting at a table, but went over to the waitress he had met with earlier to greet her. The waitress hugged him in response.

Natasha took note of the waitress' orange hair and slender build. The two exchanged a few words and laughed before the waitress pointed at the table where the Avengers sat. Tony gave a short wave and Potter smiled in return and started making his way towards them.

There were no visible weapons on his person, but Natasha knew that Potter had proved to be dangerous without one.

"Hello," Potter said with a smile, "let's get this over with. Ask away."

"Who's the waitress?" Natasha said immediately.

"Rose Weasley," he replied easily, "I'm surprised you haven't already looked her up from the security footage I know you must have gotten. And no," he continued cutting off her next question," she's never met me before that day."

"But you knew her?" Natasha said, catching the loophole in his statement.

"Not this Rose Weasley." Harry said.

"What's up with the teleportation?" Tony asked, cutting off Natasha's next question. She internally grimaced but paid attention for the response.

"Magic," Harry said with a wider smile.

"Huh," Tony said, "I would be inclined to believe you less if New York hadn't been invaded by aliens just a couple of months ago."

"So you're from space?" Steve cut in.

"I'm not an alien," Harry replied.

"But you're not from Earth," Natasha stated.

"Oh I'm from Earth all right," Harry said, "I'm British."

"Just not _our_ Earth," Bruce said softly, "the multiverse theory is true."

"That would explain a lot," Tony said, "but it doesn't explain why you've decided to crash our universe. We've had a couple of party crashers here already and we don't need another one."

"Hey," Harry said, "I'm not really sure why I landed in _this_ universe either. I didn't really have a choice. I kind of got... sent here." Harry gave them a sheepish smile.

"By who?" Natasha said tersely.

"Would you believe me if I said Death?"

* * *

_The platform at Kings Cross was deadly silent – a stark contrast to the chaos of his family home. The glamours that he had been using for decades had slipped away, leaving him physically a 17-year-old boy once again. _

_Harry could see a distinctly female figure in the distance._

"_So you're finally let me die. Why?" Harry called out to the figure. _

"_You won't be happy there anymore," Death replied back to him, "your friends have moved on and you live in a world waiting for you to die while you know you never would. It's best for all of us for you to leave." _

_Harry joined Death standing side-by-side watching the various trains come and go in silence for a few moments. _

"_Will I join my loved ones?" he asked._

"_You know I can't let you do that," she replied._

"_Then I don't want to go," Harry said heatedly, "if I can't be with my loved ones in death then I need to be with the ones that still live." _

"_The Ministry grows curious of your prolonged life. They want to know if you've figured out the secret to immortality. Your descendants may love their great great grandfather, but it's hard to live under the shadow of a living legacy. It's hard to keep all your secrets." _

"_That won't happen for some time," Harry argued, "besides, even you can't predict the future. You know there are other possibilities out there." _

_They continued to stand there but now the silence was filled with tension and stubbornness. _

"_I won't save you next time," Death relented, "staying there is all up to you. Next time you die, you're mine." _

_Harry nodded._

* * *

Clint was bored. After the whole I'm-from-another-universe revelation, Potter had stopped being open about his past, his abilities, or anything of remote interest.

They had left the diner in favor of a pub nearby, probably hoping that Harry would be more open with a bit of alcohol in him. Instead they ended up with an extremely tipsy Bruce and obnoxiously drunk Tony to babysit while Harry remained suspiciously sober.

And in the next half an hour Tony hit on three girls, Bruce vomited, and Steve sat there awkwardly while the remaining two engaged in an intense staring contest.

A staring contest that would have lasted much longer had a phone call not interrupted. As Natasha answered the call, Clint realized that his phone was ringing too.

"Play time is over," the Director said, "I need the Avengers back at the Helicarrier for briefing five minutes ago. There's a new threat headed for Earth."

* * *

**Review Please! :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Edited by my beta bizmiard. Enjoy! **

* * *

**Chapter Five**

It was at times like these that Steve wanted to throw Tony off the tower without his Iron Man suit on. A drunk Tony was hard enough to handle on a usual night. A drunk Tony at three AM at a serious and stressful meeting on the Helicarrier was really testing Steve's patience.

Said stressful meeting included the Director, Agent Hill, Agent Coulson, Thor, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Bruce, and himself. The screen ahead showed a sketch of a monstrous face.

From what Steve could gather, Loki wasn't actually the mastermind behind the invasion. No, apparently Loki had a sponsor who now wanted revenge on Earth.

That sponsor, Thanos, was called the Mad Titan. Besides superhuman strength and stability, Thanos also was telekinetic, telepathic, a master strategist, and an excellent fighter. Wonderful.

Tony's constant stream of moaning about 'Loki on steroids' and shouts of 'AVENGING!' were not helpful at all.

"We aren't really sure when he plans to attack." Fury continued to explain, "We know that he will and he will hit us hard."

"There are whispers on Asgard of Thanos' plans," Thor said, "Heimdall sees the Chitauri regrouping and similar beings going to Thanos' side. He is building an army to defeat what he considers worthy adversaries."

"Worthy? I thought this was revenge?" Steve cut in, "he wants to kill us for defeating him and all that."

"No, that is not it." Thor replied, "There is a reason we call him the Mad Titan. Thanos kills as offerings. He destroys entire planets and races for no reason other than to please her."

"Her?" Natasha said, raising an eyebrow.

"He seeks to please Mistress Death," Thor said, "Earth was just supposed to be another offering, until you proved yourselves strong. He hopes that with your destruction, he will finally prove himself a fit suitor."

"He's crazy," Tony slurred and laughed, "Time to give up dude. She's just doesn't like your type. What kind of girl likes a guy that just gives her more work to do?" He laughed again.

"Yours," Agent Hill replied dryly. Tony stopped laughing and shot her a nasty look.

"We need a plan," Fury continued on, "Thanos is on a whole other level. We don't have the Tessaract anymore and there may not be another portal we can conveniently throw a nuke into like last time."

"Asgard will help of course. They know that Earth is under my protection," Thor said.

"Good," Fury said and went on to describe attack strategies, evacuation of civilians, and back-up plans for everything that could go wrong.

They were going to be prepared and put up one hell of a fight.

* * *

"Who let you in here?" Loki sneered as he heard the door to his prison slide open and shut again. He didn't bother turning around.

"You know why I'm here, brother." Thor replied, "You've known for a while now what is to come." Loki chuckled.

"They don't stand a chance."

"You didn't think they had a chance against you either."

"They barely beat me. I was close to winning, to domination," Loki sneered, "my army almost overwhelmed them. You were only six while we were in the thousands. Thanos will have more. He will have stronger and smarter. A convenient nuclear weapon saved them once, but Thanos will have learned from my mistakes. Earth will fall... and I will fall with it."

Thor and Loki remained silent each contemplating the truth.

"Father sent you here for your imprisonment for a reason. It was the humans you had harmed and therefore it is the humans you must serve your punishment with," Thor said.

"Yes, yes," Loki said irately, "I understand _why_, I'm just irritated that it happened at all. Humans, if anything, are cruel and take everything too personally."

"You did try to take over their planet."

"And I failed, didn't I?"

"And you will die with the planet if you do not help."

"They won't accept my help."

"They know they have to. Thanos can manipulate time and space. Such magic is beyond their capabilities." Loki sighed.

"Thanos already recognizes my magic," Loki explained, "I will only be of limited use to the fighting effort, not the ace in their pocket that they need."

"Then you have intimate knowledge. Give them that."

"You mean destroy their hope of winning?" Loki replied sardonically, "Thanos has destroyed entire races in his mad quest to court death. Do you think they did not put up a fight? Some fought valiantly. But there is not a being in this universe who can hide from Thanos when he is determined or stand face to face to him and come out victorious."

At that moment Director Fury stepped through the door.

"Well then it's good that I know someone from a different universe, isn't it?"

* * *

If you were had finally found peace in a new world, what exactly were you supposed to do with it?

Harry found himself sitting in the new flat he bought himself in London, with absolutely no idea what to do next. The flat had come fully, and tastefully, furnished. He had just finished making and eating lunch.

With at least six hours to go before dinner, Harry was overwhelmed with possibilities.

There was no daily plan to avoid the press or need to hone his battle skills for once. Instead he could read a book, any book. He could go shopping, run in the park, take an art class, or listen to a concert.

He could probably flirt with a couple of women too, though with his appearance the ones that would pay him any attention would make him feel like a pedophile.

Harry decided to finish settling into his flat before taking one of the many books he bought to sit outside in the park to read. On his way to the park, Harry reveled in the life around him.

Listening to a child's laugh, Harry could remember the good parts of life, of family, and of friendship, the time in between his years on the run and in hiding. Maybe in this life he would finally be allowed to start his own family, not that his patchwork family back home could ever be replaced.

London here was different from London back home. London back home was drowning in magic. It was almost smothered Harry wherever he walked, playing with him and dancing around him.

Magic was used to hide the Ministry of Magic, St. Mungos and Diagon Alley, leaving imprints of each wizard's personality everywhere. By the end those imprints became a constant terrible reminder of the wizards out there hunting for him once more.

The London here had less magic. But if Harry closed his eyes and searched, it was still there, dancing and caressing him softly. The magic here was pure and exhilarating and seductive and electrifying and – waiting for something.

* * *

"We should have start evacuating Manhattan by now," Steve said staring at the view outside Stark Tower, "they should leave before the battle begins."

"For once I agree with you. This place is an alien magnet," Tony stated.

"Thor landed in New Mexico," Clint commented.

"An evil alien magnet," Tony retorted, "evil aliens that destroy the city and costs me billions in repairs."

"You can afford it," Natasha said.

"Yes but you'd think after saving the city from an alien takeover and _nuclear detonation_ that they'd cut you some slack in paying for all the damage," Tony whined, "that is not how you treat your heroes."

"Weren't you awarded with no less than three more medals and on the cover of every major magazine in the last few months?" Clint asked rhetorically.

"I think Hollywood is making a movie," Bruce commented.

"I would probably have to crash the premiere too," Tony replied.

"Moving on," Steve said, "Thanos could get here any day now and we need to be prepared."

"What do you think we've been doing for the last few weeks?" Clint grumbled, "The _only_ thing we've been doing is training and studying everything we can about Thanos."

"Therefore you know and I know that there is a very big possibility than Thanos is bigger than anything we can handle." Steve replied stubbornly.

"Those Phase Two weapons might have been useful."

"Unfortunately I don't think the Asgardians are going to let the Tessaract out of their sight again."

"Those Asgardians are here to help," Coulson said, stepping out of the elevator at the end of the room, "you're going to need their knowledge. Especially... Loki's."

Before any of the Avengers could react to Phil's appearance or protest Loki and Thor appeared in the room as well.

Clint immediately drew his bow, Natasha pulled out her gun, and the rest of them tensed in preparation to attack. However, Loki just held his hands up in the air revealing the cuffs he had on that repressed his abilities.

"Peace, my friends," Thor said, "we are here at the request of the son of Coul. Loki is no threat." Clint turned his head to glare at Phil demanding answers.

"They're here at Director Fury's request actually," Phil said in a monotone.

"Forget Director Fury's request," Tony exclaimed, "I thought you were dead! It's good to see you, cockroach! This calls for a drink." Tony walked over to the bar and started pouring drinks for everyone.

Work wasn't exactly forgotten after that, but a drink or two was definitely needed before anyone could even think about working together.

Loki recognized that fact as well and may have charmed the alcohol a bit stronger than it normally would be. After all he had taken over the mind of one of them, killed another, and tried to take over their planet.

Not that he regretted anything really but _failing. _Unfortunately, now his life was at stake, along with theirs, so work together they would.

"Fury says you have met a dimension traveler." Loki finally said after a while, "From what I have learned about him, he may the one to tip the balance in your favor. You will need him to save your world."

* * *

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